Associazione Sportiva Dilettanistica Viareggio Calcio, usually referred to simply as Viareggio, is an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club located in

Viareggio Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city in the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well a ...

, Tuscany. Viareggio Calcio, as of 2021–22 season, plays in Tuscan Second Category.

History

Esperia 1911

Esperia was a football club founded in

in 1911.

Viareggio Calcio, A.S. Viareggio Calcio and A.C. Viareggio

Viareggio Calcio was founded in 1919 by a merger of 6 football clubs: Esperia, Libertas, Vigor, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Aquila and Celeritas. The club was re-founded in 1939 as A.S. Viareggio Calcio and again as A.C. Viareggio in 1994. Viareggio played in

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

between 1933–1937 and 1946–1948. Viareggio also spent several seasons in

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

, notably from 1990 to 1994 and from 1997 to 2002. In 2000s the club was acquired by the European School of Economics from Bruno Fanciullacci. The club then known as A.C. E.S.E. Viareggio. A.C. E.S.E. Viareggio was dissolved due to bankruptcy in June 2003. The former chairman of the club Vincenzo Lombino (alias: Marvin Tracy) was charged for withdrawing money from the club with false invoices. The school itself was involved in an alleged money laundering scandal.

Esperia Viareggio

After the defunct of A.C. Viareggio, Esperia Viareggio became a successor of the club. The founding chairman of Esperia Viareggio was Mirko Lippi, but was soon replaced by Stefano Dinelli, which was the chairman from 2003 to circa 2014. However, the new club did not acquire the assets of the old club. It was reported that former A.C. Viareggio chairman Bruno Fanciullacci had acquired the assets of the old club by auction. The name "Esperia Viareggio" is a homage to the first team founded in the city, Esperia 1911. It was reported that the Comitato Regionale Toscana, the organizer of

Eccellenza Tuscany Eccellenza Tuscany () is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in Tuscany, Italy. It is competed amongst 37 teams, in three different groups (A, B and C). The winners of the Groups compete together in final round robin, and the first ...

, had accepted the application of Lippi's Esperia Viareggio as a phoenix club, instead of Fanciullacci's Viareggio. Promoted in 2006 after having won

and

Coppa Italia Dilettanti The Coppa Italia Dilettanti (Italian for: Italian Amateurs Cup) is an annual knock-out competition for teams from the fifth and sixth levels of Italian football: the Eccellenza and the Promozione. All ties except for the final, which is held at t ...

, Esperia Viareggio gained its second consecutive promotion on 22 April 2007 by winning Group E of

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

four matches before the end of the season. At the end of the 2008–09 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season, the club was admitted to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

for the first time in its history. Long serving players retired including Samuele Barsotti and Giuseppe Costantino in 2010 and Michele Fusi in 2009. Alberto Reccolani also left the club. In 2009–10 and 2010–11 the team finished the season in the relegation places, but managed to win play-offs to remain in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione. In 2010–11 the only defenders on a long-term contract were Lorenzo Fiale and Sergio Carnesalini, whilst others were borrowed from other teams. The starting goalkeeper Carlo Pinsoglio was loaned from Juventus and called up to the

Italy national under-21 football team The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 Association football, football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two ...

during his stay with club. In 2014 the club was excluded from the new third-tier

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

for economic reasons. However, Esperia Viareggio was later admitted to 2014–15

Terza Categoria The Terza Categoria is the lowest level of amateur football in Italy. It is the ninth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Terza Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the ...

season.

Viareggio 2014

In August 2014, thanks to the

article 52 of N.O.I.F. ("Article 52 of the Italian Football Federation regulations for internal organisation") governs the status of Phoenix club (sports), phoenix clubs of football in Italy. The article was revised in 2004, 2008, 2010, and 2014. Many Commas, or paragra ...

, a new club was admitted to

as a successor. After its predecessor F.C. Esperia Viareggio, which was excluded from professional leagues in 2014, "Viareggio 2014" applied as its successor and was admitted in

. However, Esperia Viareggio continued to play in

from 2014 to 2017.

Colors and badge

The club's main colors are white and black, serving as inspiration for the club's nickname, '' eZebre'', which stands for "The Zebras." The logo of now defunct Esperia Viareggio, featured zebra stripe and an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

. In 2012–13 season, Burlamacco, a local crown figure, was also added to the jersey. Esperia Viareggio wore a temporarily logo "Viareggio Ricorda" in 2009, as a memorial of

Viareggio train derailment The Viareggio derailment was the derailment and subsequent fire of a freight train carrying liquefied petroleum gas. It occurred on 29 June 2009 in a railway station in Viareggio, Lucca, a city in Central Italy's Tuscany region. Thirty-two peop ...

. S.S.D. Viareggio 2014 had a similar logo background as the logo of now defunct F.C. Esperia Viareggio, but had 2014, the year of foundation on it. The logo also featured an anchor, but resemble to the crest of the city. Viareggio 2014 also used a temporarily logo ''Il Mondo che vorrei'' in 2015 as a memorial of Viareggio train derailment.

Stadiums

A.C. Viareggio played their home matches on , which also known as Stadio dei Pini. Their successors, Esperia Viareggio and Viareggio 2014, also used that stadium until 2018.

Players

Notable former players

* Alberto Libertazzi * Seb Loeffen * Marco Pissardo * Daniel Theiner

Notable former managers

Roberto Pruzzo Roberto Pruzzo (; born 1 April 1955) is an Italian former football player and coach who played as a forward. He represented Italy at UEFA Euro 1980. Club career Born at Crocefieschi, in the province of Genova, Pruzzo made his debut in profe ...

Nedo Sonetti Nedo Sonetti (born 25 February 1941) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a centre-back. Biography Sonetti was born in Piombino, southern Tuscany and lives now in Gorle. Playing career As a defender, Sonetti played i ...

Honours

** Winners: 2005–06

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viareggio ASD Viareggio Calcio Sport in Viareggio Football clubs in Tuscany Association football clubs established in 1919 Association football clubs established in 2003 Association football clubs established in 2014 Serie D clubs Serie B clubs Serie C clubs 1919 establishments in Italy 2003 establishments in Italy 2014 establishments in Italy 2020 establishments in Italy Phoenix clubs (association football)